Red Candle Games are probably more frequently remembered as a horror developer, what with their first couple of games being Detention and the slightly troubled (but very good) Devotion. Surprisingly, their follow-up to the latter wasn’t another horror game, but Nine Sols, a Sekiro-inspired 2D action Metroidvania that just looks stunning in motion. It was a welcome surprise! Developers should never feel beholden to expectations, and Red Candle Games have once again offered up a lovely little surprise in the form of a Nine Sols prequel manga.
As it turns out, the reason for its existence is a pretty simple one: the devs just had too much story for one game (but mostly “time constraints and other factors”). So, as they explain in a Steam post, last year they “established a partnership with Mojoin”, a site for a whole bunch of webcomics, as well as hooked up with artist Yang Chi-Cheng. “As a result, what was once an extravagant idea for us gradually became a reality through the collective efforts of everyone involved, especially with the invaluable contributions of Mr. Yang,” Red Candle Games explained.
The plot is set “long before” Nine Sols itself, though I’m not sure how long before, and focuses on two Solarians who “forever altered the course of Penglai’s history.” The manga is also, quite conveniently available in English alongside Chinese and Japanese, and the first chapter is already available to read too. Update will apparently be coming weekly on Wednesday.
I haven’t actually had the good fortune of playing Nine Sols just yet, our own Nic liked it so much it turned him around on the genre, so I’ve only had a skim of the manga myself. Therefore, I can’t really speak to the story all that much, but the artwork is great. Lots of confident linework that captures the style of the game very well. What a treat! Perhaps it’s time for me to pick the game up…
